Differences in Intergenerational Mobility Across the Earnings Distribution

<p>There is a broad range of work which looks at the transmission of various outcomes-earnings education and poverty-between parents and children. If a society is concerned with ensuring equal opportunity for all its members then it is important to understand the extent to which such outcomes are transmitted from one generation to the next. The degree to which outcomes are transmitted however is likely to be related to socioeconomic circumstances and may result in different degrees of intergenerational mobility across groups. In this paper I examine whether or not the transmission of earnings from parents to children differs across the distribution of parent earnings. I examine non-linearities in the intergenerational earnings mobility using semi-parametric estimates of the relationship between father and children's earnings. When I allow for a flexible non-linear relationship between father's and children's earnings it appears that parental earnings have the greatest effect in the middle of the distribution. Hypothesis tests indicate that the effect of father's earnings is significantly greater for daughters and sons in the middle and upper portions of the distribution than for those at the bottom.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>